The rupee erased all its morning gains to hit a new record low of 74.27 against the US dollar in afternoon trade on Tuesday after Brent crude breached the USD 84 a barrel-mark again and the American currency strengthened overseas. Moreover, unabated foreign fund outflows weighed on the rupee, traders said.

The rupee declined sharply lower against the US dollar to close at a record 73.34, amid soaring crude oil prices. The rupee touched a fresh all-time low of 73.42 against the American currency during the session, but contained some of those losses by the end of the session. The government will hold an inter-ministerial meeting to discuss currency weakness and its impact on trade-deficit.

Police in Gujarat's Jamnagar city busted a fake currency note printing racket last Tuesday and arrested a person in this connection from his residence in Shastrinagar. Counterfeit notes in Rs. 2,000 and Rs. 500 denominations with a total face value of Rs. 66,500 were also seized after Crime Branch sleuths raided the house of one Zahid Sheikh, who was eventually arrested, cops said.